The Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Step Back as Senior Royals: January 2020


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The Statement is incredibly 'personal' in tone..no reference to the institution of Monarchy, nor the quasi-state 'position' the couple hold/once held'...
 
This is becoming surreal. And it's already sad .

Very sad.:ermm:
 
I do not understand it anymore.They want more freedom, rigth? Charles wants a slimmed down monarchy.. so in that case I can understand it that they want to live abroad for a while.. maybe to find out how they want to shape their lives.
This is actually not so strange and also happens in other royal famillies. I already mentioned the Dutch royal family. The Danish prince Joachim and his wife Marie live abroad etc and have jobs.



It seems the problem is that they want it all.. and financial compensation and their titles and protection where ever they live , so that is not really financial independence Or is this all not true and only gutter press ( or whatever you name that in english).

What exactly makes it such a big thing ... what do they want?

Did you read the message on the Sussex website? That's what makes this such a big thing.
 
Just a quick glance at social media shows that much of the public is rolling their eyes after this statement from BP. I'm seeing lots of comments in the vein of "the RF made an offer, Harry and Meghan refused, let's sit back and watch the temper tantrums and toys flying out of the pram." The language used in the statement appears to be me to be more personal than what we usually see and the "we would have preferred" certainly makes it clear that the RF aren't pleased about the way this has been handled.
 
Wowzers.

The undertone of “although we would have preferred them”. Shows how much they have forced their own families hand in this.



Yes. That was what really got my attention too.

They’ll support it, but she went out of her way to say this wasn’t what they wanted. That was obvious imo, but there’s knowing that the Sussexes were expected and desired to be FT support- especially for William- and directly saying that in the statement.

It really speaks to the tension and hurt around this and how it’s been handled: very poorly from the Sussexes.

Really- this hurts William more than anyone in terms of family support when he’s monarch.
 
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The Statement is incredibly 'personal' in tone..no reference to the institution of Monarchy, nor the quasi-state 'position' the couple hold/once held'...



You’re right. This was very personal in tone. Which speaks volumes.
 
The Statement is incredibly 'personal' in tone..no reference to the institution of Monarchy, nor the quasi-state 'position' the couple hold/once held'...

And referring to them as the Sussex's, rather than the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Very different wording from the Queen than we are used to, I wonder if Harry and Meghan have rejected the offer and so things are on hold.....I thought that the all would have been discussed and agreed upon prior to meeting with the Queen for her final approval. Very strange....
 
The Statement is incredibly 'personal' in tone..no reference to the institution of Monarchy, nor the quasi-state 'position' the couple hold/once held'...


I cannot make up my mind if the lack of formal titles is because their retention is part of the discussion or if the queen wanted to emphasise this was a family matter as well as a royal matter.
She possibly wanted to emphasis how it affected them all as a family, over and above the logistics of the whole thing.

It felt sad.

If the transition period is that they live between the two countries , is that suggesting after the transition period they will leave the UK totally.

I know this is not an abdication but the queen was of an age to recall the affect of the abdication on her family, which was basically a family member leaving the family to live abroad and hardly set foot in the country again . She will have concerns that history does not repeat itself.
 
That's something else. The Queen herself giving a "statement" on anything, let alone on a prickly family matter. Obviously it's a different medium and a much less fraught circumstance, but I can't help but be reminded of the last time she spoke on a raw matter as a queen and grandmother. And there's a mournful note this time too. Very unusual.
 
Yes, I find this statement strange in the way that twice they are referred to as Harry and Meghan and then the Sussexes in the final paragraph-it’s a different register entirely.
 
I'm disappointed that the Sussexes have been run out being full-time royals (and they were...but no role/job is worth the constant bullying they received). However, I'm also excited for them and can't wait to see what they do with all of their new opportunities.

As for the rest, the British media can focus on the other royals who do hard work and don't get coverage (aka the Countess of Wessex, Princesses Anne) and the rest who will be King & Queen consorts can have the British media spotlight all to themselves now.
 
There's a lot to ponder in the statement from the Queen. Clearly there was nothing agreed upon except the move to Canada. What is most interesting to me is the lack of any phrasing along the lines of " there has been broad agreement, with a few details soon to be arranged." That is the alarming part in this statement. Not what's in it, but what is missing.
 
Of course the Queen herself does not write press statements: her secretary does this and the wording confirms the shakiness of the hand guiding the Queen's administration, as has been noted by others. However, we can read further between the lines to understand that the Duke and Duchess will retain their royal titles and that they will be available to carry on their royal duties in the Commonwealth, even so far as moving to Canada. I have already explained in a previous post that the Duke and Duchess do not need immigration visas to carry out their work in Canada as they will probably be given diplomatic status by the Protocol office in Ottawa. There are still many things to be discussed and worked out, as outlined in the statement; I do hope however that the British tabloids and broadsheets will calm down after provoking the Dukes to issue a joint statement denying emnity between them.
 
The statement says nothing more than let them go live in Canada while we straighten out all the details.

Stay tuned folks .... it’s not over!
 
I guess the move is official. I agree the personal time was unexpected.
 
To me, personally, the statement says that the half in half out nature that the Sussexes wanted wasn’t accepted. What we’ll now see is the workings out of how the title situation should be handled. I think the issuing of new LPs will take place, potentially not just for H&M but for other members of the RF as well.

I think something has been agreed today, now they have to work out the logistics and the legislature if required.

The statement itself shows how much The Queen, Charles and William were blindsided by this.
 
I do hope however that the British tabloids and broadsheets will calm down after provoking the Dukes to issue a joint statement denying emnity between them.


They objected to the word “bullying” by William in describing the Sussexes leaving their FT role. Which was the right thing to do.

They haven’t been getting along per Harry, and I doubt things have vastly improved given what’s happened since.
 
There's a lot to ponder in the statement from the Queen. Clearly there was nothing agreed upon except the move to Canada. What is most interesting to me is the lack of any phrasing along the lines of " there has been broad agreement, with a few details soon to be arranged." That is the alarming part in this statement. Not what's in it, but what is missing.


Funny that what was "agreed", i.e. the move to Canada, is actually one of the most difficult problems to tackle due to the lingering questions about immigration, security, funding, etc.


The statement, however, stresses the sense of entitlement of the royals. Basically, Harry and Meghan have decided to move to Canada and everybody else, including the British and Canadian governments, are commanded to find a way as soon as possible to make it happen.


Republicans will have a field day with that !


To me, personally, the statement says that the half in half out nature that the Sussexes wanted wasn’t accepted. What we’ll now see is the workings out of how the title situation should be handled. I think the issuing of new LPs will take place, potentially not just for H&M but for other members of the RF as well.

I think something has been agreed today, now they have to work out the logistics and the legislature if required.

The statement itself shows how much The Queen, Charles and William were blindsided by this.


I was thinking about that over lunch and I agree it is a good opportunity for new LPs to be issued limiting the HRH to children of a sovereign, children of the heir, and children of the eldest living child of the heir.


The problem is that HM won't agree to take away the HRHs of Beatrice and Eugenie, or of the Gloucesters and the Kents, so it remains to be seen if a special provision will be made to affect Harry and Meghan only and, otherwise, the LPs will apply only to people born after they are issued.


Personally, I think Harry and Meghan might keep the HRH, even if the statement may suggest otherwise.
 
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There's a lot to ponder in the statement from the Queen. Clearly there was nothing agreed upon except the move to Canada. What is most interesting to me is the lack of any phrasing along the lines of " there has been broad agreement, with a few details soon to be arranged." That is the alarming part in this statement. Not what's in it, but what is missing.

Yes, my thoughts as well. This must be very difficult for the Queen as her reign (and life) winds down to have so much upheaval in her family. This is what makes me most angry with the Sussex's.
 
There's a lot to ponder in the statement from the Queen. Clearly there was nothing agreed upon except the move to Canada. What is most interesting to me is the lack of any phrasing along the lines of " there has been broad agreement, with a few details soon to be arranged." That is the alarming part in this statement. Not what's in it, but what is missing.

> I suspect there is no broad agreement other than the fact that H&M are indeed moving to Canada, and will not be full time royals going forward.

> Also, all of this is clearly work in progress. I suspect the next communication will be the full monty, with all the relevant questions addressed comprehensively. That will include titles, costs of security, funding pattern going forward, role within the BRF, patronages, offices etc. Putting out anything not fully cooked will have led to more questions than answers.
 
I cannot make up my mind if the lack of formal titles is because their retention is part of the discussion or if the queen wanted to emphasise this was a family matter as well as a royal matter.
She possibly wanted to emphasis how it affected them all as a family, over and above the logistics of the whole thing.

It felt sad.

If the transition period is that they live between the two countries , is that suggesting after the transition period they will leave the UK totally.

I know this is not an abdication but the queen was of an age to recall the affect of the abdication on her family, which was basically a family member leaving the family to live abroad and hardly set foot in the country again . She will have concerns that history does not repeat itself.

I fully agree that it did feel sad. It feels exhausted and sad and disappointed. I'm torn on the use of "Harry and Meghan" and "the Sussexes." On one hand this could very much be as you've stated in that she wanted to emphasize how very personal and how much a family matter it really is. On the other hand, she is the Queen, the head of the RF, the "boss" if you will, and very savvy. She will have understood that by leaving out "HRH" or "Duke and Duchess" there will be speculation and questions. It really feels to me as though the title portion of all this is still in discussion or perhaps is mostly decided without being formalized. I've no doubt that barring some very serious lapse in judgment regarding commercial enterprises, etc. they will retain their Duke and Duchess titles, if for no other reason than the great lengths it would take to remove them. I'm much less certain that they will retain their HRH status and this statement from BP certainly doesn't answer that question. The last few days have been chaotic but very interesting. I suspect the next few will be as well.
 
Hmmm...well, I think it was certainly smart to release a statement given the hubbub around all of this. I'm not sure that statement really told us a whole lot of anything but it was certainly very interesting as it appears to be a bit more personal that the usual statement s released by BP. It does appear that the Queen and Company aren't planning to keep the public totally out of the loop and good for them for reading the public mood and realizing that it would be a mistake to just say nothing.

I'm glad the Queen said something - it will hopefully help quiet the noise, and it's also always good to hear from HM ,especially about something so personal. You can tell this is still painful for her personally.....and I'm sure Charles.
 
The statement itself shows how much The Queen, Charles and William were blindsided by this.

I could not agree more with you. Interestingly, the Queen is happy to share this fact with the public.
 
Could Harry and Meghan ask for the title to be removed as part of their future plans to be self sufficient and not to be seen as trading on their connections?
 
Could Harry and Meghan ask for the title to be removed as part of their future plans to be self sufficient and not to be seen as trading on their connections?



My understanding, limited as it maybe, the HRH can go via an LP from The Queen. The Peerage has to be done via parliament. But yes they can ask, and it can be granted.
 
Sail away, sail away, sail away ...
But one is not amused, let's say one is frankly pissed.
Damage is done.
It's not over, and i expect more surprises to come ...
 
They objected to the word “bullying” by William in describing the Sussexes leaving their FT role. Which was the right thing to do.

They haven’t been getting along per Harry, and I doubt things have vastly improved given what’s happened since.

Agreed that it was very much the right thing to do. I don't believe for a second that anyone with even a passing interest in the RF could deny that these two brothers are not getting along and are not close. And I agree that it's unlikely that that has improved much given recent events. However, I think we should take it as a very, very good sign that they're able to agree that a statement of this sort should be issued. Are things good between them? Decidedly not. Are they still aware that accusations like that are harmful to the work that they have all been so deeply involved in? Absolutely. And it's a positive sign that even in times of turmoil they're able to act as adults long enough to publicly come together to refute such allegations. I wonder if this might not speak to the fact that underneath all the temper tantrums, loose cannon type behavior, and angry lashing out Harry might still have a small bit of respect for the members of his family that are left to deal with the fallout of all this.
 
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